Laurel Anne Hardy
| death_date = N/A | death_place = N/A | resides = Manchester, England | billed_from = Rhyl, North Wales No Fixed Abode | trainer = Terry Hopkins Ribeye Reynolds Nikki Tallin Shane Tallin Jay Pride | current_efeds = pwFRONTIER pwFRONTLINE WARPED HEW | previous_efeds = GEW DCW Nasty Creations HSW | handler = styg | winloss_record = unknown | debut = July 2005 circuit November 2009 pro | retired = N/A }} Laurel Saiko Yunokawa, best known as Laurel Anne Hardy and also performing as Saikosoma and Saiko Yunokawa, is a Welsh professional wrestler and performance artist currently based in Pro Wrestling FRONTIER and appearing in numerous companies. She is best known as a deathmatch specialist (with notable deathmatch victories to her name including Global Extreme Wrestling's Torneo Extremo 2011 and the second Nasty 8 tournament) and as a tag team specialist, with ten world tag team championships across three successful tag teams: with Evangelista as The UK Dragons / Dragons Unleashed, with Allison Lorraine as The Zodiac Killers, and with Annie Zellor as #Sparklebuddies. She is also associated with numerous factions including The Asylum, Storm and its subsequent incarnation The Imperium, and a broader #Sparklebuddies circle. Although officially a two-time world champion, having unified the Xtreme Wrestling Alliance World Heavyweight Championship with the XWA Hardcore Championship and XWA Gladiatorial Championship in July 2015 to become the inaugural XWA Supreme Champion, Yunokawa does not recognise herself as a singles world champion. Her disdain for world championships is well publicised; in May 2015 she won Global Championship Wrestling's annual Best of the Best tournament, but declined the winner's traditional prize of a world championship match. Early Life Laurel Saiko Yunokawa was born in a caravan park just outside Rhyl in north Wales and her birth was never registered; until the age of 18, she wasn't listed in any official government records. Yunokawa and her younger half-siblings, Matthew and Zoe, moved around North Wales as children and Yunokawa claims she never attended school. She spent periods of her childhood living with her father in Japan, and until the age of 18 was known as both Laurel Yunokawa and Laurel Guerra (her mother's maiden name). She is primarily of Welsh, Japanese and Portuguese descent, and also has English, Irish, Spanish, Romani, Korean and Russian ancestry. Training From a young age Yunokawa was interested in both performance art and fighting. She cites seeing a match between Dragon Takeshi and Arata Tanaka whilst visiting her father in Hokkaido, aged ten, as the moment she decided she wanted to become a wrestler. After backyard training she competed as a teenager in the local semi-legal fighting circuit of north Wales, competing under a variety of names and masks so that her mother wouldn't find out. At 18, she moved to Liverpool, England, to pursue formal training. While in training, under British veterans Terry Hopkins and Mark "Ribeye" Reynolds, she made the acquaintance of a fellow trainee named Leanne Evangelista. Through Evangelista, Yunokawa met a number of Global Extreme Wrestling stars including Mark Chapman, Baby Dogg, Amy Ngoudje and Damien Synn. These contacts helped Yunokawa and Evangelista land tryout dark matches with GEW during the company's 2010 British tour. They competed in one singles match each and a tag match, under the respective names Laurel Guerra and Leanne Fontanilla. Although they lost all three matches, they impressed GEW's roster enough for a referral to the Battlegrounds Wrestling Academy in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, operated by former GEW World Champion Shane Tallin and his wife Nikki. After moving to Ottawa and attending Battlegrounds, Yunokawa's first professional signing was with Baltimore-based indie Death Company Wrestling under the name Laurel Hardy, on the referral of Baby Dogg. However, she only made a few dark match appearances before the company folded. Global Extreme Wrestling, Super Combat, Nasty, Helter Skelter , surrounded by fans.]] blah Under the name Laurel Anne Hardy, Yunokawa was one of the first wrestlers to sign with the short-lived British comedy/hardcore promotion Super Combat Discount Megamart and competed in the first ever SCDM match, in a losing effort to James Nock. During the match she had her face slammed into a bowl of trifle; she has cited this moment as the inspiration for what would eventually become her own signature weapon, thumbtack-filled custard pies. In spring 2011, Yunokawa represented SCDM in the second Nasty 8 deathmatch tournament, hosted by graphics studio Nasty Creations, again under the name Laurel Anne Hardy. She successively upset veterans and former world champions Max Static, The Nameless and Kaji Fireson to claim the trophy. It was then announced that she and the winner of the first tournament, Brad Jackson, would compete for the inaugural Nasty National Championship in an enclosed, electricity-based deathmatch. Although Jackson won the match, Hardy drew acclaim for lasting over thirty minutes with The Mechanical Animal in such an environment, and controlling him for lengthy portions of the match. She signed with the Nasty Creations promotion when it formed and remained undefeated for the duration of its brief existence. blah Following the closure of GEW, the former Asylum members found it difficult to get work due to the stigma of the part they played in the company's demise. The only company willing to take a chance on Yunokawa during the rest of 2011 was Helter Skelter Wrestling; she remained undefeated during her time in HSW, including a victory over another former world champion in Brittany Lohan, but was injured during a match with Dominic Stone after she misjudged a top rope huracanrana attempt. During her rehab period, HSW closed down. International Journal of Wrestling named Hardy 2011's Rookie of the Year, citing the legend-killing reputation she'd acquired over the course of the year and her strong performances in some of the year's most brutal matches including GEW's Torneo Extremo and her match with Jackson. Hiatus, FRONTIER, WARPED and interfeds .]] Hardy, along with Evangelista and Evangelista's Championship Wrestling Federation mentor and tag team partner Jay Pride, took the year of 2012 out from wrestling to refocus and heal up from nagging injuries. During this period they moved back to the UK, relocating from Ottawa to Manchester, to where Pride and his business partner Jackie Boy Warner had relocated their gym. Hardy took up a job in a hotel, while Evangelista returned to her old job in Tesco. In January 2013 Hardy, Evangelista and Pride returned to wrestling as fan favourites when they joined Evangelista and Pride's old British base Pro Wrestling FRONTIER. Hardy's debut with the company was in the 2013 Open House battle royale, although a few days prior she represented FRONTIER in WARPED Wrestling, taking up an open challenge laid by WARPED Tag Team Champions The CarnEvil Connection (CCNX). Competing as The UK Dragons, Hardy and Evangelista defeated CCNX to earn a shot at the titles. The Dragons lost a deathmatch to CCNX in FRONTIER, but won the rubber match in WARPED to capture the Tag Team Championship, the first championship of Hardy's career. The Dragons successfully retained the titles against CCNX twice, albeit under questionable circumstances as both matches saw interference from a variety of parties. Via their feud with CCNX, the Dragons began to feud with WARPED's dominant stable AbominationZ, aligning themselves with WARPED president Joey Matthew and wrestlers PKA, Dylan Daniels and Hugo Strange. During the course of this feud Hardy and Evangelista destroyed the interior of AbominationZ' tourbus and several of their possessions; AbominationZ responded by hospitalising Hardy's brother. During a title defence against Anton Chase and Cameron MacNichol, PKA betrayed the Dragons, costing them the match and the titles. show.]] In FRONTIER, meanwhile, the Dragons twice defeated members of the stable Evil Negativity Disdain in tag team competition, earning a shot at GFC Tag Team Champions Adam Stryker and Jason Richards. At an iPPV event the Dragons successfully unseated Stryker and Richards, in the process making the belt the World Tag Team Championship by having been defended on two continents; the two teams forged an alliance later that night to make the save when AbominationZ showed up to attack Pride, who had just defeated AbominationZ member William Wallace. The Dragons represented FRONTIER in Hollywood Elite Wrestling's T3 tournament, but were eliminated by Any Given Sundae. Hardy also competed in FRONTIER's Japanese sister promotion Pro Wrestling FRONTLINE under the name Saiko Yunokawa. While in FRONTLINE she clashed with old GEW enemy Troy Gafgen, igniting a feud between the two which carried over to FRONTIER. Personal Life Yunokawa is left-handed. She speaks nine languages to at least a conversational degree (Welsh, English, Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish, French, German, Russian and Korean), but did not learn to read or write until adulthood. She now reads and writes Welsh and English, albeit with difficulty. Yunokawa has two younger half-siblings on her mother's side, Matthew and Zoe, and several half- and step-siblings on her father's side. She has one tattoo: a vibrant, multicoloured manta ray on her upper back. Outside of wrestling, Yunokawa is involved with local theatre and street performance art groups. She is known to be a great fan of indie, synthpop, noise-pop and electroclash music. She has named Deerhoof as her favourite band and their frontwoman Satomi Matsuzaki as her favourite singer, her favourite albums as Björk's Vespertine and Animal Collective's Merriweather Post Pavilion, and her favourite songs as The Cure's "Close To Me" and Infected Mushroom's "Becoming Insane." She has also named her favourite movie as Ink, her favourite TV show as Gavin & Stacey and her favourite videogame as Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3. Although she doesn't follow any professional sports, she enjoys playing football, swimming and rock climbing and has acknowledged that she enjoys watching gymnastics, ice skating, synchronised swimming and diving. She smokes, and has freely admitted to recreational drug use. Although she has no significant lasting injuries, Yunokawa suffers from a congenital bronchial disorder, which limits her stamina in long matches. She has admitted that her smoking exacerbates this, but to date has been unable to quit. In addition to wrestling, Yunokawa works as a bartender and waitress at a hotel in Manchester. Wrestling & Promo Style Yunokawa's unique wrestling style has drawn both praise and criticism; she has admitted to viewing wrestling more as a platform for artistic self-expression than a sporting competition, and caring more about creating new manoeuvres or combos and wowing the fans than pursuing victory. Her fighting has been criticised for lacking coherence and strategy, and for the fact she adds impractical or time-wasting flashy elements to even the most basic moves. However, she has drawn praise for her ability to perform difficult physical feats, the unpredictable variety of her moveset and her desire to put on a spectacle for the fans. Around winter 2014-2015, Yunokawa started moving towards a stiffer and more grounded fighting style, tending to focus her attacks on her opponent's head and neck. Until autumn 2014, Yunokawa's promos frequently drew on her performance art background, making use of dramatised scenarios, elaborate sets and props, extras and cameos, breaking of the fourth wall, inserts advertising fictional products, slapstick violence, and dialogue with offscreen participants. Yunokawa herself typically wears outlandish clothing and makeup, and has been known to perform in multiple roles within a promo. Championships & Accomplishments Diamond Wrestling Federation *1 x DWF Blood Diamond Championship EXODUS Pro Wrestling *1 x EXODUS Pro Tag Team Championship (with Evangelista) Frontier Grappling Arts *2 x FGA World Tag Team Championship (with Annie Zellor) Future Wrestling Alliance *1 x FWA World Tag Team Championship (with Allison Lorraine) *1 x FWA Xtreme Championship Garbage vs Pure *2 x G/P Most Brutal Championship Global Championship Wrestling *GCW Best of the Best 2015 *GCW World Tag Team Championship Contenders' Tournament 2014 (with Allison Lorraine & Jessica Lasiewicz) *3 x GCW World Tag Team Championship (with Allison Lorraine) *Most Popular Wrestler 2014 Global Extreme Wrestling *GEW Torneo Extremo 2011 Glory For Puro *6 x World Extreme Championship Nasty Creations *Nasty 8 II Pro Wrestling FRONTIER *2 x GFC World Tag Team Championship (with Evangelista) *Most Popular Wrestler 2013, 2014 *Match of the Year 2013 (vs Evangelista) *Tag Team of the Year 2014 (with Evangelista) WARPED Wrestling *1 x WARPED Tag Team Championship (with Evangelista) Wrestling Underground Collective *7 x IGNITE 24/7 Extreme Championship Xtreme Wrestling Alliance *1 x XWA Gladiatorial Championship *1 x XWA Hardcore Championship *1 x XWA Supreme Championship *1 x XWA World Heavyweight Championship International Journal of Wrestling *IJW Rookie of the Year 2011 One Ring Circus *ORC EYE Female Wrestler of the Year Runner-Up Award 2013 United Kingdom Sports Syndicate *Hardcore Wrestler of the Mid-Year 2015 *Tag Team of the Mid-Year 2015 (with Evangelista) Signature & Finishing Moves * Anus Horribilis - Step-off seated senton to the back of the head of an opponent on all fours * Battlegrounds Uppercut - European uppercut, pushing the opponent's head down with other hand * Der Ursprung des Kunstwerkes / D.U.D.K. - Inverted sitout side slam * Dragon's Jaw / Dragon's Bite / Dragon's Breath - Full nelson with vertical splits into split-leg bulldog * Echo Chamber - Scissored armbar with knee strikes to head, driving the opponent's head into the mat * Flower Plower - Crossarm front flip piledriver * Flower Plower Mk.II - Crossarm snap piledriver * Flower Plower Mk.III: Terror From Beneath! – Straightjacket front flip piledriver * Gáe Buide - Spear * Gom Jabbar - Spike jab to the windpipe * L.A.H.O.O.Q. - Roundoff backflip headscissors takedown * Mass Queraid – Slingshot front flip split kick to two opponents * Rest On Your Laurels - Half nelson lift flipped into sitout fisherman buster * Party Hardy - Fisherman brainbuster * Party Hardy: The Hangover – Fisherman suplex lift flipped into sitout powerbomb * Party Hardy: The Melancholy of Sunday Afternoon - Fisherman suplex lift flipped into powerbomb lungblower * Punctum - Knee strike to side of head * Stronger Than Dirt – Corkscrew shooting star elbow drop * Sunfall - Diving top rope knee strike to back of head * Super Duper Acid Party - Labai throw followed by shining enzuigiri * The Doors of Perception - Mounted self-legtrapped straightjacket choke * The Poseidon Misadventure – Diving front flip leg drop to doubled over opponent * Tsunami Wildfire - Double rotation corkscrew shooting star press * Winter Garden Photograph - Butterfly sitout throatbuster * Armbar DDT * Capoiera kicks * Diving senton leg drop * Full nelson facebuster * Hadouken * Headbutt * Pele kick * Rolling thunder * Roundoff backflip corner back splash * Slingshot dropkick Miscellany Theme Songs Solo Themes: *Air - Dirty Trip *Andain - Ave Maria *Aphex Twin - vordhobsn *Cibo Matto - Sci-Fi Wasabi *David Bowie - Cat People (Putting Out Fire) *Deerhoof - Giga Dance *Deerhoof - Super Duper Rescue Heads ! *Faith No More - Midlife Crisis *The Flaming Lips - Approaching Pavonis Mons By Balloon (Utopia Planitia) *Gorillaz feat. Mark E Smith - Glitter Freeze *Ladytron - Destroy Everything You Touch *Manic Street Preachers - Faster *Mansfield feat. Yukari Fresh - The New Pollution *Misako Honjoh - Cum On Feel The Noize *The Rolling Stones - You Can't Always Get What You Want *Shonen Knife - Cookie Day *Ubiquitous Synergy Seeker - Yin Yang Tag Team Themes: *Cibo Matto - Spoon (with Evangelista) *CSS - Jager Yoga (with Annie Zellor) *The Fiery Furnaces - Wicker Whatnots (with Evangelista) *Glass Candy - Candy Castle (with Evangelista) *Helalyn Flowers - Hybrid Moments (with Allison Lorraine) *Misako Honjoh - Cum On Feel The Noize (with Evangelista) *The Naked And Famous - All Of This (with Matty Graves) Stable Themes: *Hell Within - Asylum of the Human Predator (The Asylum) *The Prodigy - Voodoo People (Pendulum Remix) (Storm / The Imperium) Nicknames *Off-White Trash *The Artist Currently Known as Fabulous *Variations on The Living, Breathing, Most Must-See Live Installation Event of the Century *'The Five Star Match Machine' *'Your Favourite Wrestler's Favourite Wrestler' Catchphrases *"Are they a band?" *"Stay fabulous." *"Sweet as a five dollar shake, tough as a three dollar steak." Managers *Serena Raine *Noumenon Category:Wrestlers Category:Characters Category:1989 births Category:British characters Category:Characters from Wales Category:Hardcore wrestlers Category:Global Extreme Wrestling alumni